Chapter 9

Battle of Brothers

Okay. After some deliberation. I've decided to do the Sy vs Zane Duel first. Also, I'm sorry but I'm going to stick to my guns about Jaden not being with Dark Magicain girl. Well, not much else to say so... Let's kick it up!

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Jaden and Yubel were sitting at the table in the rec room going over their Decks. Suddenly, Jaden's eyes glow as he heard a mighty roar as godly flames flashed through his vision. He reached in to his deck box to pull out Uria.

"Jaden, what's wrong?" Yubel asked.

"I just had a feeling that something just as strong as the Sacred Beasts will be on the island soon." He said.

"And there's the other two Beasts to deal with." Yubel pointed out gaining a nod from Jaden who looked to his deck before bringing Uria over it as Yubel grabbed his wrist. "Are you sure that you're ready?" She asked.

"With everything going on, we'll need all the help we can get. " Jaden said, getting a nod from Yubel before she let go of his wrist and he placed Uria on top of his deck before the energy of both the Beast and King synchronized. 'Okay, I can handle this.' He thought Syrus walked in.

"Jaden, Shepard just called everyone to the front steps of the Academy." Syrus said as Jaden clipped his deck back to his belt and he and Yubel fallowed Syrus out of the rec room.

A few minutes later, the group was outside the Academy building along side all the other students and quite a few professional Duelists. In the crowd, Syrus was able to spot out Zane as Alexis began staring daggers at Chazz. Jaden however did not find his eyes drawn to a corrupted friend someone he never met. A grey haired man wearing glasses, a blue shirt and a white blazer. He didn't know why. But he had a feeling like someone was walking over his grave when looking at the strange man.

"Attention, Duelists!" Shouted a large man with a pointed pompadour wearing a suit. "Everyone turn your attention to Chancilor Shepard." He said as Shepard came up to the podium.

"Thank you Kemo." Shepard said before he began to speak to the attendants of the tournament. "Alright everyone, here's how the tournament works." He said before pulling up a silver medal with the leters G and X over a globe. "This is a GX medallion. Each competitor will be given one. You will bet these on your duels and at the end of the preliminaries those with the most medals will move on to the finals and the winner have the chance to duel one of the three greatest Duelists in the world. Joey Wheeler, Seto Kaiba, or Yugi Muto!" He exclaimed as most of the people began to cheer and Jaden and his group smiled at the prospect.

"Now, get out there and Duel!" Shepard called as most all the Duelists began to cheer and leave to find opponents. Shepard's eyes however, were drawn to his wayward student. 'I hope one of your friends will be able to help you, Zane.' He thought before going inside.

"So, that was him." Kaiba said from behind Shepard.

"Yes it was. I hope that doctor of yours get here soon." Shepard said in worry of what Zane would do with the Underworld Deck.

"Don't worry. I just got word that she's just about to arrive on the island." Kaiba replied.

Meanwhile at the landing pad on the docks, a Kaiba Corp helicopter had just landed as a young girl at about the age of six with short brown hair and blue eyes stepped out before a woman that the girl only came up to the knees of got out as well.

Back with the guys:

Syrus was looking over at Zane.

"Looks like everyone's steering clear of Zane." Alexis said as she joined up with everyone.

"Not everyone." Syrus said as he began walking before Hassleberry placed his hand on his shoulder.

"You sure about this?" Hassleberry asked.

"Don't worry, Sarge. I got this." Syrus said as the two of them shared a nod and he began walking up to his brother. "Zane!" He called as Zane turned to see him.

"Well, well. If it isn't my little brother. Let me guess. Your here to try and get me to stop being so aggressive." Zane said in assumption.

"No." Syrus said defiantly as he pulled up his black and yellow Acadamy style Duel Disk. "I'm here to duel some sense in to you." He said with confidence that mirrored that of the old Zane.

"So, baby brother's finally learned to stand tall. Fine have it your way." Zane sai before pulling out a case and taking three black rings out of it before throwing them to Syrus as he put the other three on his arms and neck. "If you want to duel me, you'll have to do it my way.

"Fine." Syrus replied defiantly as he placed the rings on his own arms and neck.

Zane then activated his own Duel Disk and the two brothers squared off.

"I'll start things off." Zane said as he drew a card before gaining a cocky smirk that was very much anti-Zane. "I summon Cyber Dragon Zwei in attack mode." He said as a black robotic creature took the field (ATK: 1500 DEF: 1000) "I end my turn." He said as Alexis' brow quirked up.

"That's not like Zane. That's to base. He would have at least laid a trap card." She noted.

"He's either sizing Sy up or not taking him seriously. Either way, that could prove useful for him later." Jaden noted before Syrus drew a card.

Syrus took a moment to look over his hand before deciding on his move. "First, I'll activate Power Bond! Now I fuse my two Phoenixroids in to Para Cycroid!" He called as the tandem bike with eyes took the field. (ATK: 3200 thanks to Power Bond) Now, I call out my Steamroid!" He called, bringing put the Steam Engine monster (ATK: 1800) "Now, Steamroid! Take out his dragon!" Syrus called as Steamroid destroyed the Cyber Dragon Zwei and due to the five hundred points it gained from the attack lowered Zanes Life Points to 7200 as a subtle shock went over Zane's body, only being noticed by Jaden, Yubel, Aster and Jessie.

'He's not!' Aster thought as the tools of the underground Duels finally clicked.

"Now, my Para Cycroid attacks you directly!" Syrus called as his monster lowered Zanes points to 4000 as a far more noticeable shock went over Zane causing Syrus' eyes to widen. 'Pain collars.' He realized having read about their use in underground Duels. 'No, I can't back down. If I do Zane will just keep acting crazy.' He thought before pulling another card from his hand. "Next, I'll activate Defusion to separate my Para Cycroid back in to my two Phoenixroids in defense mode." He said as two pink bird looking Machine monsters with propellers on their wings and tails and flame patterns on their backs and wings. (Lvl: 4 ATK: 1700 DEF: 2000) "Next I'll activate Card of Sanctity. So we both draw till we have six cards." He said as he looked at his new hand. "Finally, I'll place two cards end my turn and thanks to my Phoenixroids, I gain four hundred Life Points for every Vehicroid on the field." He explained as the stacked effects of his two Phoenixroids boosted his Life Points to 9200.

"Great opening move." Alexis praised before turning to Jaden. "And good job on those new monsters you made him." She praised.

"Thanks. But the cards are only part of the puzzle. Syrus putting them to use was the other." Jaden said in praise before putting his attention back on the duel.

Meanwhile above the Duel, Kaiba and Shepard were watching the proceedings.

"He's doing well." Kaiba said.

"It's not over yet. He still has to deal with the dragon." Shepard said before the door opened behind them and the little girl with brown hair ran to Kaiba and jumped in to his arms.

"Daddy!" She shouted in joy as she hugged Kaiba's neck. Kaiba looked around for a moment before looking down at his daughter.

"Johanna. Where's your mother?" He asked.

"She's looking over things in the infirmary. But I heard you were watching a Duel. So I found my way here to watch." The six year old said while looking down.

"You shouldn't wonder around alone like that. You could have been hurt." Kaiba scolded

"I'm sorry, daddy." Johanna said while putting on the puppy dog face which Kaiba had no defense for.

Kaiba let out a light sigh. "It's fine. Come one. Let's watched this duel."

"Yay!" Johanna exclaimed before being lifted on to her father's shoulders.

Back down at the Duel, Zane couldn't help but smile at the move that Syrus just pulled off.

"So, you have gained some skill since I've left." The elder Truesdale noted as he drew a card. "First since you have monsters and I don't, I can special summon my Cyber Dragon in attack mode." He said as his serpentine monster took the field (ATK: 2100 DEF: 1600) Now, I'll place one card face down and activate Card Destruction." He said before both of them put their hands in the grave yard and drew the same number of cards from their decks. "Perfect." Zane said with a grin. I activate Polymerization and fuse together my Cyberdark Edge, Cyberdark Horn, and Cyberdark Keel to bring forth Cyberdark Dragon!" Zane called as his three monsters combined in to the demonic looking cyborg dragon. (ATK:1000 DEF:1000

"Daddy, I'm scared." Johanna said from above the Duel as she hid her face on top of Kaiba's head.

"Don't worry. I'll keep you safe." Kaiba said as he patted on his daughter's head.

"Nothing in your deck can stop my new beast, little brother. I suggest you give up now and save yourself some pain." Zane very cockily said gaining a scowl from Syrus.

"Bring it on." Syrus said in defiance.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Zane said before activating his dragon's effect. "When ever I summon my Cyberdark Dragon, I can choose one dragon in my graveyard and add its attack to Cyberdark Dragon's and I choose my Chaos Emperor Dragon Envoy of the End." Zane said as his Cyberdark Dragon began leaching off the legendary monster. "And that's not all. Since I have one other Dragon in my graveyard, My Cyberdark Dragon's attack points go up by another two thousand." He said as the Dragon's attack jumped to 5000 and Zane selected his target. "Cyberdark Dragon! Wipe out his Steamroid!" Zane called out as the Dragon prepared to fire.

"I don't think so, Zane!" Syrus called as he pulled a card from his hand. "I activate the effect of my Sphere Kuriboh! Now your Cyberdark Dragon is forced in to Defense mode." He said as the attack was canceled.

"Not bad. But not good enough. Cyber Dragon! Attack Phoenixroid!" Zane called.

"You are just off your game today." Cyrus said before revealing a trap card depicting a Marauding Captain with blank eyes wearing helmet with exposed wire. "I activate Experimental Control Module! Now until your next standby phase, your Cyber Dragon belongs to me." Syrus said gaining a growl from his brother.

'He'll try to destroy my Dragon next turn. So I'll put this down to switch it back to attack mode when he tries.' Zane thought. "I'll place one card face down and end my turn.

'This is it. Do or die time.' Syrus thought as he drew. "First I'll activate Matching Lift!" He called as he played a Magic Card depicting a Baby Dragon in front of Red Eyes with a series of Level stars. Now all the Monsters on my side of the field become the same Level as the as the highest." He explained as his Vehicroids were boosted to level five to match the Cyber Dragon he took from Zane.

"What goo can that do you?" Zane asked in genuine confusion.

"I'll show you. Now Overlay my two Phoenixroids!" Syrus called out.

"Overlay?" Zane, Shepard, and Johanna all asked.

"Now, with the two monsters I build the Overlay Network to XYZ summon Cyber Dragon Nova!" Syrus called as a Cyber Dragon with a glowing core and wings not dissimilar to that of Syrus' Phoenixroids (ATK:2100 DEF:1600)

"What is that?" Zane asked having never seen an XYZ monster before.

"You'll see soon enough. But first I activate Infringement Fusion!" Syrus called as he played a Magic Card showing a depiction of three Red Eyes Black Dragons in front of a Fusion Portal with Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon on the other side of it. "Now I fuse my Shuttleroid, Expressroid, and Drillroid by removing them from play to summon a Monster from your Extra Deck and I think you know exactly who I'm calling."Syrus said, gaining yet another glare from his brother. 'Please help me to save my brother.' He begged before calling out the name of the Monster that would help him bring Zane back. "Cyber End Dragon!" He called as the three headed Machine Fusion took the field. (ATK: 4000 DEF: 2800) "The down side is that at the end of my turn I'll take two hundred points of damage for however many levels the Monster I summon is and continue doing so until that Monster is snet to the grave yard. But that doesn't matter 'cause I'm ending this duel now!" He exclaimed.

"Good luck." Zane sarcastically said counting that Syrus had nothing that could stop his Dragon even with Cyber End Dragon.

"Now I remove Cyber Dragon fro the play to boost Cyber Dragon Nova's attack to 4200." Syrus called as the Cyber Dragon disappeared, boosting the XYZ Monster's Attack Points. "Let's end this. Go, Cyber End Dragon! Attack Cyberdark Dragon!" He called as his brothers old favorite Monster attacked.

"Bad move. I activate Gamushara!" Zane called as the trap shifted Cyberdark Dragon to attack mode. "It was a nice attempt. But not good enough." He said with a grin.

"You took the words right out of my mouth." Syrus said as he flipped up a trap card depicting two yellow cards one overtaking the other with a mach cone appearing around it. "I activate Slingshot Drift! This allows me to add the Attack points of one machine type monster to another at the cost of the second being unable to attack for two turns and it losing half its attack points." He said as Cyber End Dragon's Attack Points jumped to 8200 and allowing Cyber End Dragon to destroy Cyberdark Dragon, reducing his Life Points to 800.

The destruction of his Dragon also resulted in Zane clutching his chest in pain and Syrus to shed a tear at what he had to do next. "I'm sorry." Syrus whispered. "Steamroid, attack his Life Points directly." Syrus said as his brother's life points were reduced to zero before he began to collapse. "Jaden!" Syrus called before throwing Cyber Dragon Nova and another XYZ Monster to Jaden.

"Right." Jaden confirmed before running over to Zane and placing the cards in his deck. ::Your power had been corrupted by those who don't know the true meaning of Darkness. Let these extensions of its true strength ease your suffering and your partner's.:: Jaden spoke out to his mind.

::Thank you.:: A growling voice said in releaf, gaining a nod from the Supreme King.

"We need to get Zane to the infirmary." Jaden said before singaling for him to grab Zane's legs.

A few minutes later, the group arrived the infirmary to be met by Fonda.

"What happened?" Fonda asked as she led them to a bed to put Zane on.

"No time to explain. He needs help." Jaden said as woman in her late twenties walked in to the room and began examining Zane. "Who's that?" Jaden asked Fonda.

"That's dr. Serenity Kaiba. She's a one of the best doctor's in the world. Mr. Kaiba called her here for the tournament." Fonda explained. Before she led everyone away. "Come on there's nothing we can do for Zane right now." She said before walking them out of the room.

A few minutes later, as the group was waiting, Kaiba walked up with Johanna in tow, the young girl running up to Syrus and smiling. "Hi. That was great duel." She greeted sweetly.

"Uh. Thank you." Replied a slightly confused Syrus.

"Everyone, this is my daughter, Johanna." Kaiba introduced the girl as Yubel knelt down next to her with a smile.

"Hi I'm you Yubel." She greeted before noticing the Deck Box on the girl's hip. "So, you like dueling, do you?" She asked.

"Yeahuh. One day I want to be as good as my Daddy and uncle." She said before the door opened and Serenity walked out.

"How's my brother?" Syrus asked in panic.

"He's going to be fine. Luckily, you were able to get to him before his condition was too bad. You can go see him now." Serenity said as Syrus walked in to his brother was lying exhausted. But conscious.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Syrus asked.

"Like a complete idiot." Zane responded while looking at his Cyber End Dragon. "I became so obsessed with winning that I completely turned my back on everything I've ever believed in. I even betrayed my Cyber End Dragon." Zane said, feeling like he deserved a punch to the face.

"You were just in a bad way for while. Plus with the corrupted cards. It's no wonder you couldn't keep ahold of your self." Syrus said to comfort Zane. "Good news is, now that Jaden purified the Cyber Dark cards, you should be able to use them no problem." He explained.

"How did Jaden do that?" Zane asked.

"I'll catch you up on that later. For now, It's just good to have you back." Syrus said to his brother as Kaiba and Serenity looked on.

"Good job, as always." Kaiba said to his wife.

"Thanks. But now we have another problem. " Serenity said in a serious tone. "Pegasus contacted Joey a few days ago about a theft that happened recently." She began to explain.

"I know. He called me too." Kaiba said before looking to a nearby window. "Hopefully, we can get it back before anyone gets hurt." He said.

Meanwhile on another part of the island the man that Jaden had seen in the crowd was looking out at a lone duelist in the forest. "Let the games begin." The man said as he put his deck in his Duel Disk as an aluminous golden energy enveloped it and the sky became noticeably darker.

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Well there you go. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next time, it's the clash of the titans. Ra vs Uria. Now before everyone asks. Johanna will have a few Duels throughout this and I already have a deck lined up for her. Well, until next time and as always... Keep on keeping on.